Defendant accused in porn case waives hearing

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An Erie man accused of trying to hire an 11-year-old girl for child pornography waived his right to two key hearings Friday and agreed to be detained pending further prosecution of his case.

Douglas Melter, 32, had been scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter to determine whether there was enough evidence to hold him for trial and also to determine whether he should be held in prison to await further proceedings.

Instead, Melter waived his right to the hearings after he met with his lawyers, Kenneth Bickel and Matthew Porsch.

"Based upon additional information I received from the U.S. attorney and in consultation with my client, we felt it was not in his best interest to have the hearings," Bickel said.

Bickel and the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Trabold, declined to comment on what additional information had been handed over.

Court records indicate Michael Thoreson, the lead FBI agent in the case, on Jan. 18 obtained search warrants for a computer found in Melter's car after his Jan. 15 arrest and also for Melter's cell phone.

A computer found in Melter's house on the day of his arrest had failed to yield evidence as of Jan. 18, the court records state.

Melter, of the 1200 block of West Seventh Street, faces two counts of criminal solicitation. He is accused of using interstate commerce -- via his cell phone -- to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography.

Melter was arrested after police and the FBI investigated a tip from a prostitute who said Melter was asking her to locate a young girl with whom he could have sexual contact and whom he could use to create child pornography.

In cell phone text message exchanges obtained by investigators, Melter told the prostitute he would pay as much as $500 for each girl he was able to photograph and that he planned to sell images of the child overseas.

"Had 6 different models so far ... file sent overseas the second shoot is done then the harddrive is destroyed," he wrote in a text, the government said.

The prostitute cooperated in a sting in which she falsely told Melter she would bring an 11-year-old girl to a McDonald's restaurant on Jan. 15 and hand her over to Melter. When Melter showed up for the meeting, he was arrested by the FBI and Millcreek Township police.

Thoreson said in the criminal complaint that a computer, a handgun and seven pairs of young girls' underwear were found in a search of Melter's home that day. Melter is barred from possessing the handgun because of his prior record, Thoreson said.

Melter, who the FBI said has a prior record for indecent assault of a person younger than 16, faces a maximum sentence of life on both federal counts.